Differentiated Instruction

What is differentiated instruction?

and …and …

What does differentiated instruction mean to you?

Think about a time you’ve needed support in your teaching. What in your teaching. What kinds of supports were

there? …….

Support #1?

Retrieved from: http://em042.k12.sd.us/Differentiated%20Instruction/Picture1.jpg

Differentiated Instruction

… a flexible approach to teaching in which the teacher plans and carries out varied approaches to content, process and product in anticipation of, and in response product in anticipation of, and in response

to student differences in readiness, interests, and learning needs.(Tomlinson, 1995, p. 10)

Differentiated instruction …

… teacher proactively plans varied approaches to what students need to learn, how they will learn it, and/or how they can express what they have learned they can express what they have learned in order to increase the likelihood that each student will learn as much as he or

she can as efficiently as possible. (Tomlinson, 2003, p. 151)

Differentiated Instruction

… is a teacher’s response to learners’ needs

General principles of differentiation

Clear learning goals

Flexible grouping

Positive learning environment

Achievable tasks

Ongoing assessment

How to differentiate

• By:Content

ProcessProduct

Based on students’ReadinessInterest

Learning profile

There are as many ways of learning as there are studentsstudents

Least-Effective Teaching

n Presenting large amounts of material at a time

n Failing to guide student practice n Giving little time for student processing of n Giving little time for student processing of the new material

n Expecting all students to get new material the first time

n Failing to prevent students from developing misconceptions

J.W. Lloyd, E.J. Kameanui, and D. Chard (Eds.) (1997) Issues in educating students with disabilities.

Most-Effective Teaching

n Presenting smaller amountsof material at any time

n Guiding student practice as students worked problemsworked problems

n Providing for student processing of the new material

n Checking the understanding of all studentsn Attempting to prevent students from developing misconceptions

J.W. Lloyd, E.J. Kameanui, and D. Chard (Eds.) (1997) Issues in educating students with disabilities.

• Teachers may therefore need to modifytheir approaches to accommodate all learners

Definitions• Accommodations refer to the actual teaching supports and services that the student may require to successfully demonstrate learning. Accommodations should not change expectations to the curriculum grade levels.

• Modifications refer to changes made to curriculum • Modifications refer to changes made to curriculum expectations in order to meet the needs of the student. Modifications are made when the expectations are beyond the students level of ability. Modifications may be minimal or very complex depending on the student performance.

www.ucclermont.edu/...cms/.../Accommodation_or_Modification.ppt

n Accommodations

Do not fundamentally alter or lower expectations or standards in instructional level, content or performance criteria.

Do not fundamentally alter or lower expectations or standards in instructional level, content or performance criteria.

Do fundamentally alter or lower expectations or standards in instructional level, content or performance criteria.

Do fundamentally alter or lower expectations or standards in instructional level, content or performance criteria.

nModifications�������������� �������������

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nModifications�������������� �������������

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Grading is same

Changes are made in order to provide equal access to learning and equal opportunity todemonstrate what is known.

Changes are made in order to provide equal access to learning and equal opportunity todemonstrate what is known.

Changes are made to providestudent meaningful &

productive learning experiencesbased on individual needs &

abilities.

Changes are made to providestudent meaningful &

productive learning experiencesbased on individual needs &

abilities.

Grading is different

What it is and what it is not:

• Differentiated instruction is proactive. The teacher assumes that students have differing needs and therefore plans a variety of ways for learners to express learning.

• Differentiated instruction is more qualitative than quantitative. Simply adjusting the quantity of the assignment is usually less effective than adjusting the nature of the assignment to match student needs.

• Differentiated instruction is rooted in assessment. Throughout the unit teachers use a variety of methods to assess students’ developing readiness levels, interests, and modes of learning. Learning experiences are then designed based on their best understanding.

• Differentiated instruction provides multiple approaches to content, process, and product. Teachers offer different approaches to what students learn, how they learn it, and how they demonstrate what they’ve learned. Commonly, all of

Issues with differentiating instruction

Issues• Class SizeIt is hard to implement differentiated instruction in a large class. The value of differentiated instruction lies in the grouping of students by academic ability and need.

The ideal size for learning The ideal size for learning groups is three to five, no more than seven. Therefore, a class of 30 students would necessitate four or more groups, which is hard to manage and teach effectively.

THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT WE SHOULD NOT TRY!!

Issues• ResourcesDifferentiated instruction requires that a variety of materials and resources be available for students with differing learning styles.

For example, some students may learn a skill through the use of manipulatives and hands-on activities, and others hands-on activities, and others may need to see a videotape of a skill being practiced.

Whatever the method, these strategies require that teachers have a great number of available resources.

Differentiating Instruction for …

….. a special group of students….. a special group of students

Something to think about …

what comes to mind when you read/hear these words in the classroom context?

At riskAt riskmarginal

endangeredcrisis level

underachieving

I was in my house, at the sink, when two of my three sons rushed in the back door. My middle son, who was ten, yelled “He’s gonna pummel us, he’s gonna pummel us!” He was grinning and running, and so was his brother. Then in ran my husband with a snowball in his hand. The boys and their father had been throwing snowballs and the boys, covered in snow, snowballs and the boys, covered in snow, couldn’t wait to be “pummeled.” All my “boys” ran out the front door, throwing snowballs and making a huge mess. I remember thinking “Do they have to use the word ‘pummeled’?”

Laurie WashingtonFrom: The minds of boys (Gurian and Stevens, 2000)

What does “pummelling” tell us about boys?

Worldwide ideas … about …BOYS

• Underachieving and underpriviledged (Australia)

• Boys’ culture less study • Boys’ culture less study oriented than girls (Belgium)

• …deal with the academic underachieve-ment of boys (UK)

Worldwide ideas … about …BOYS

• ….how to protect our boys (USA)

• …need to develop social competence and democratic democratic understanding of boys (Sweden)

• … especially boys –simply cannot read; girls score better in exams and stay in school longer (Jamaica)

What do our local statistics say about males? (… and females?)

Enrolment numbers in high schools

72.90%

50.40%

58.50%

49.50%50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

80.00%

41.40%

27.10%

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

1899 1988 2008

Males

females

Grade One Readiness Inventory (2008)

22.80%

29%

25.00%

30.00%

35.00%

18.30%

13.90%

0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

G1-RI (all) G1-RI (0)

males

females

Grade Four Literacy Test Results (2008)

61%

82.90%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

males

13.50%

4.30%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

GFLT (all) GFLT (0)

males

females

% of entries for all subjects - CSEC

45.70%

37.70%

54.30%

62.30%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

1993 2008

males

females

Passess in "female" and "male" related subjects

60.70%

74.10%

80.40%81.40%

46.80%

82.80%

76.40%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

80.00%

90.00%

males

18.60%

38%40.80%39.300%

35.10%

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

English English Physics Physics Biology Math

1993 2008 1993 2008 2008 2008

females

Passes in subjects offered by gender

84.80%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

80.00%

90.00%

15.15%

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

males females

Subjects offered

Think about this…

These are not just numbers …

liveslivesliveslives….. these are the liveslivesliveslives of our boys.

Read the article entitled:

Underachieving boys: Problems and solutions by Holland (2000) – in the Support for Learning the Support for Learning Journal, Vol. 13 No. 4 (1998), p. 174-178

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